club run 8/11/07

[Stu Merckx Man]

wow that was a bit damp. where was everyone???

only george paul and I up for the training group.

we kept it together really smooth and george was on good form. i wasnt feeling fantastic as i got a bit of a bad throat, so i didnt go too hard.

the through and off was very smooth and enjoyable. we kept it together, and smooth until the last corner before the charlswood signs. paul rode off to take the win un contested by me or george. i couldnt see a thing and i think george had a similar problem.

luckily we got some seats in the cafe. i sat there shivering along with ray.

everyone this week went back the quick way. i was in a group with sylv, paul, george and neil (the corroridori guy).

i was absolutely freezing when we set off so i went as hard as i could on the front for a bit. i warmed up after a while and we all started working well. neil was suffering on the hillier bits, and would get dropped, but then impressively would get back to us on the flat sections.

sylv took us up the merstham drag at a fair old speed of 21-22. we all stormed down the other side, almost never dipping below 30mph.

as a result the the average speed was pretty high, and i completed the club run (coulsdon south to home) in 1.59.36 , the first time i have done the short way in under 2 hours .

i really enjoyed the ride. it got to the point where i was so wet it didnt matter any more. i nearly didnt go out, but im glad i did!

stu

[George]

Finally back to ride a clubrun again, it's been a long time off the bike recovering from my injury.
Every Saturday for the last 3 months I've been looking at the beautiful weather and being dead jealous for you guy's n girls out there on the CR.

So what do I get on my first proper CR back, lashings of rain and cold wind

In the training group we were going along at a fair lick with just the 3 of us, but doing equal shares of the work we all managed to stay fairly warm, there were a few numb fingers in the cafe I can tell ya.

Had 2 lovely warm cups of tea with our president Joyce who had come dowm on the tram, train and bus to Charlwood.

There was no way I was going back via box hill cos it was lashing it down and cold and I didn't fancy another 45mins out in those conditions.

On the way back I took it easy for a few miles to eventually warm up but I always kept the fast boy's Neil, Stu Paul and Sylv in view, I caught them up and also warmed up nicely.

They were tanking along and Neil was doing well to stay in the pack, back up mershtam drag and everyone was strong, I was working hard to stay on the bunch and realised theres a way to go to get stronger for the season but thats yonks off yet.
I'm just happy to be back on the road.
Cheers George

[Sylv]

Stu if it was the cold that got you going I reckon when you are racing next season you should try popping a few ice cubes down your chamois, for that was a mighty turn of speed of yours just out of the café - on the old winter bike too!

I was cold for about 30 seconds and then after that the cold was the least of my worries all the way back to Croydon! Great ride.

George that is really impressive seeing you almost back to full speed after having spent that long not riding - also how did you manage to shed more weight whilst being stuck at home?!

Going for the Charlwood sprint I was in Ray's wheel then went to pass him, tried shifting a gear down but my fingers were so numb I couldn't feel the lever, so was spinning like mad

[Andrew G]

Was it me or was it moist?

Forecast had said that there'd be showers from about noon so I stuck my rain jacket in my pocket before setting off. The rain started at CSS, the jacket went on, and the drenching began.

Took a steady 18s which by and large went well. Someone dropped their glasses just after the M23 turn-off so we eased up to let them collect them. When they rejoined the pace picked up at the front too quick before some realised we were one group again and we split temporarily. A few quick shouts and we were soon back together and organised within about half a mile.

Adrian stopped just before Reigate to stick a jacket on so we rode easily through Reigate. Unfortunately by the golf course, where I said we'd wait for him, he hadn't got back on but there was a call that we were all together so we carried on.

Really sorry mate, but thankfully he hooked up with Kieran to ride in, solo in that weather would not be fun. A quick reminder that we need to make sure that the communication is up to scratch, although to be fair I don't think anyone could see much today.

We stayed together and well organised for the rest of the route, I gave a bit of a chivvy up at one point as the pace was dropping too much . We took the Partridge escape which no-one complained about, I think a couple might have just starting to suffer with the wind and rain a bit. I think we arrived pretty damn close to the 18mph advertised, maybe a touch slower due to the conditions.

Only stopped at the cafe long enough to avail myself of their lavatorial facilities, wring out the gloves, and shovel down an half an energy bar and a gel.

Kieran and Adrian turned up just behind us and after the quick turn around I set off back with them. Nice steady 18s pace all the way, although surprisingly Adrian was struggling on the climbs and drags where he's normally in his element.

I had to pop in to the Fiat garage at the Lombard roundabout so had to endure a slight extension, slogging along the dual carriageway on the way back in to a ferocious headwind and still the bloody rain.

By this stage my fingers were cold and I was absolutely knackered, the climb back up to Selsdon lights felt like scaling a mountain.

Rides in conditions like today are always tough, but I do find you have a warm glow of satisfaction afterwards - post shower, tea, and with the heating turned up full .

Cheers,

Andrew.

I'm really glad I went out this morning - which is not the same thing as saying I enjoyed it.

Got to CSS to find a surprisingly large and even more surprisingly cheerful bunch of people. Choice of attire ran the proverbial gamut - from the North Sea to the Commonwealth

[quote]
Adrian stopped just before Reigate to stick a jacket on so we rode easily through Reigate. Unfortunately by the golf course, where I said we'd wait for him, he hadn't got back on but there was a call that we were all together so we carried on.

Really sorry mate

[Neil Mac]

Had a good ride today despite the disgusting weather. Out to the cafe with the 18's and then back with Stu, Sylv, Paul and George.

Thanks for the words of encouragement re the ride back guys. I toyed with the idea of trying a turn upfront on the flats
but knew I was going to be in for a right kicking on the climbs so I opted for some outrageous wheel sucking instead.

Which demonstrated A) cheating is a good thing, and B) Stu's mudgaurds are designed to drench wheel suckers.

[Andrew G]

Regarding misting up glasses I can strongly recommend SunDog Anti-fog. It's a godsend for someone like me who has prescription lenses so doesn't have the option of taking the binz off.

I got mine at the Cycle Show but a quick search found it [url=http://www.sunglassesforsport.com/store/product_details.vc?productId=179&categoryId=85]here[/url].

It's like a wax crayon in a lipsyl tube and came with a little cloth bag to keep it in. Not sure if what I got was a promotion and you have to buy the bag separately now.

Clean your glasses first, then you scribble on both sides of the lens with the "crayon". Polish with the outside of the cloth bag, then turn that inside out and give a final polish off with the inside of the bag. It is amazing stuff, if you breath on the lenses afterwards then the mist is only there for a fraction of a second before vanishing! You need to reapply every time you clean your glasses but the stick looks like it'll last for ages.

Even in today's rain they still weren't misting up on the way home. I swear it is the best £5 you can spend on your cycling.

[Snoop Doug]

cripes it was pi55ing down! I went out on my mtb with John's group and we all helped keep each others spirits up. I was wearing a shower mac, ha haaaaa, woolly gloves and a pair of old trainers on me feet (plus a couple of other garments like). I was totally soaked and really cold in the extremities by the caff and decided to keep on going.

I struggled home on my tod, got caught by 44x16 about a mile and a half from my gaff. By now I was totally fed up and feeling really uncomfortable.

Got home, disrobed and immediately jumped in the shower, everything started to sting, my wrists puffed up like a pair of giant wotsits, me arms, legs and ar5e went a very unpleasant red and began to sting like f***.

Most of me has calmed down now (cept me rear end which is still glowing like a.....well, like a well smacked ar5e) needless to say that was a horrible ride home.

Snoop

[Amy]

Too much information, Doug. That's why I waited till I warmed up before attempting a shower...

I have to say that the only time I was wetter was on a tour some years back. We'd stopped to look at the Maharajah's Well just the other side of Reading in the sh*teist weather going and as we set off I thought I couldn't get any wetter - the only dry bit being my midriff. Car came the other way through a sheet of water and the same hit me right about waist height. We still had to get to Cirencester

[Paul H]

[quote]paul rode off to take the win un contested by me or george. i couldnt see a thing and i think george had a similar problem.

[Antloony]

Wow really was a wet ride (insert smutty remark here).

I was with the 17's in my 'waterproof' flourescent over jacket thats about as waterproof as a sieve and my 'waterproof' gloves which according to a recent review in a respected cycling magazine 'stayed dry even in the heaviest rain'....oh I seriously beg to differ, must have been that pesky wet rain we had today then, not the dry stuff they encoutered when testing.

Still, I felt quite happy when I got home having done it...cant get much worse conditions than todays can you????

Again thank to all for making it an 'enjoyable' ride considering the conditions, 3rd week out with you guys and still loving it.

[Stu Merckx Man]

[quote]You didnt have a problem contesting the sprint up the hill before the dual carriagway or George for the Rusper sign. Uncontested or too knackered?

[Michelle]

Re: times - seems like almost everyone's speedos stopped working, but the 'steady 18's' I went with clocked up 18.6 overall back at Coulsdons S BR.

Didn't the tail wind on the way back feel lovely though! Just flew back, even had Stu in my sights ....for 1 minute.

I had driven up and parked off Chipstead Valley Road in my teeny tiny car, so once the bike got slung in I had to lever myself in the passenger seat and attempt changing into dry clothes using well known contortionist moves.

And I forgot the towel.

Good job the windows had steamed up due to struggling with the wet gear - otherwise someone might have got quite a shock.

[kieran]

Well, what a bad day to decide not to bring a coat or any rain gear! Set off late as usual, caught the 18 group at reigate, saw Adrian stop to put on his jacket so was probably me the guy saw instead of Adrian. I held back from completely joining the group, not wanting a mouthful of rear wheel spray, so played a game of stopping to eat/toilet and then sprinting back to the group. Then joined up with Adrian and decided to stay with him to the cafe. We quickly decided to head home straight away as i was freezing wet in the rain and soaked right through. A good run in with Andrew as well, constantly checking his rapidly eroding single front brake! Got past Crystal palace with 5 mins to home when, like Adrian, I got a rear wheel puncture!!! I was so miserable I rang my wife to come pick me up but they were in a cafe having lunch ! So I fixed my puncture with shaking numb hands and shivering body, got back home and sat in front of a heater on full to thaw out then have a lovely hot shower, some food and soon back to normal. Then we went to look at rabbits!

[Andrew G]

[quote]A good run in with Andrew as well, constantly checking his rapidly eroding single front brake!